Barcelona on verge of Liga title, Villarreal secure top four
Atletico youngster Miguel Cubo netted his team's second goal in the win at Valencia on Saturday in La Liga (JOSE JORDAN) Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres took Barcelona to the brink of the La Liga title with late goals to earn them a 2-1 win at Osasuna on Saturday. Elsewhere, Villarreal guaranteed themselves a Champions League qualification spot with a 5-1 romp over Levante in La Liga. Diego Simeone rotated his whole team with the Champions League in mind as Atletico Madrid defeated Valencia 2-0 at Mestalla.
Catalan giants Barcelona moved 14 points clear of second-placed Real Madrid and will be crowned champions if their rivals drop points at Espanyol on Sunday. Lewandowski headed home after 81 minutes to break the deadlock, with Torres slotting in a second with four minutes to go. Osasuna pulled one back through Raul Garcia late on but Barca secured the three points to close in on a second consecutive league title and a 29th in the club's history.
If Real Madrid do defeat Espanyol, then Barcelona's next opportunity to clinch the title will be in the Clasico against their arch-rivals on May 10. "For me the important thing was that today we did our job, it's not in our hands what happens tomorrow," Flick told reporters. "It's like that.
We have to wait -- this is a good situation... "If we win the title (by Madrid slipping up), we will also celebrate, I think it doesn't matter (how). " Barca striker Torres said he would prefer for the title to be sewn up "as soon as possible".
"We've put the pressure on Madrid because tomorrow, if they don't win, then we really will be champions," Torres told DAZN. Barca's first half was that of a team perched on a comfortable cushion and the feeling of having little at stake. Without the injured Lamine Yamal, Barca lose a lot of their dynamism, and although they had much the ball in the first half they found it hard to break down Osasuna to create clear chances.